Mother Jones is out with a glowing portrait of President Barack Obama’s largest financial supporter, DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg.
The profile of the Los Angeles "bell cow"—Democratic strategist Paul Begala's term for a wealthy donor who convinces others to give money—glosses over the fact that Katzenberg suffered an expensive electoral defeat last week when Eric Garcetti thwarted Wendy Greuel to become Antonio Villaraigosa’s successor as L.A.'s next mayor. The article barely mentions that Katzenberg raised more than $150,000 on behalf of Greuel.
More than once, Mother Jones portrays Katzenberg as the idyllic, altruistic political donor.
Obama officials say they respect Katzenberg not only for his fundraising, but also because he has no specific ‘ask’—no ambassadorship to Switzerland, no regulatory tweak, no nights in the Lincoln Bedroom.
Unfortunately the perfect liberal benefactor does not exist. Even Mother Jones is forced to mention the one flaw in its depiction of Katzenberg, the fact that he was seated next to Chinese President Xi Jinping at a State Department lunch and Vice President Joe Biden helped negotiate a deal that would help the new Oriental DreamWorks in Shanghai. The article's author forgot to mention that this series of events triggered an SEC investigation.